Railway-signal.



No. 714,173. 7 Patented Nov. 25, I902;

. J. A. GUINN.

RAILWAY SIGNAL. (Application filed Mar. 31'. 1902;) (No Model.) 3 Sheba-Shoot I.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN ALEXANDER GUINN, OF PERRY, IOWA, ASSIGNOR TO THE RAILWVAY AUTOMATICTIME AND DANGER SIGNAL 00., OF DES MOINES, IOWA.

RAILWAY-SIGNAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 714,173, dated November25, 1902.

Application filed March 31, 1902. Serial No. 100,885. (No model-l 10 allwhom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN ALEXANDER GUINN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Perry, in the county of Dallas and State 5 of Iowa,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Signals;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in railway-signals; and it consistsof an attachment employed in connection with the apparatus shown inLetters Patent granted to me and bearing date of May 17, 1892, andnumbered 47 5,108, whereby a train reachinga successive station or aseries of stations completes an electrical circuit, so as to operate asignal-arm and a reflector at said station or stations.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appear,and the novel features thereof will be specifically defined by theappended claims.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings,which, with the letters of reference marked thereon, form a part of thisspecification, and in which- Figure 1 represents a perspective view of arailway-signalembodyingmyinvention. Fig. 2 represents a vertical centralsection of a post with attachments, omitting the parts not forming perse a part of this invention. Fig. 3 represents a sectional view showingtwo sig- 3 5 naling-posts with electric circuit as embodied in myinvention. Fig. 4 represents a plan view of a modification of theinvention. Fig. 5 represents a central longitudinal section of mechanismwhich may be employed in rais- 0 ing the index employed in my invention.Fig. 6 represents a side View of the time or retard.- ing mechanism forlowering the index employed in my invention.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts throughout the severalviews.

A designates a stationor post having an index B guided in a slot 0 insaid post.

D designates a signal arm or block pivoted within said post and havingan arm E thereon,

which is in the nature of a cam and is adapted thereon.

by contact with the index B to be raised so as to pass through the saidslot 0.

As the arm D is raised to its highest extent the heel F of the same isengaged by the gravity-latch G, which holds it in elevated position, sothat it can be readily seen by the engineer on a train passing on theroad. Gonnected with said signal-arm D is a colored glass J, so locatedas to be adapted when raised to color the light reflected from thereflector H, or in lieu of said reflector H a lamp may be employed, saidreflector or lamp being secured in the casing on the top of the post A.V

K designates an electric circuit connected with adjacent posts, abattery L, connected with said circuit, being in each one of the postsand having a ground-wire connected therewith. M designates a movable armin said circuit adapted to be operated by contact with the lateralprojection m of the arm 6 carried by the index B so as to close thecircuit and cause the armature of the magnet N to remove the latch Gfrom contact with the heel F of the signal-arm, thereby permitting thelatter to fall and with it the colored glass J. To raise the said indexB, the followingdescribed mechanism maybe employed, such, however, beingshown, described, and claimed in Letters Patent granted to me May 17,1892, and numbered 475,108, as hereinbefore mentioned.

D designates blades of metal each pivoted at one of its ends to a railand its other end secured to the arm E of a track E, which rests upon across-bar G, upon which the roller F is guided. To the index B issecured a weighted block W, having a projection X, which is fitted in avertical groove Y in the post A. A sprocket-chain V is secured o at oneend to said block and, passing around a sprocket-wheel S, is connectedwith a cord 13*, which passes down the post andis secured to the axle Gof the roller F so as to Wind To retard the falling or lowering 5 of thesaid index, the following-described mechanism may be employed: In theupper part of the post is located the time mechanism shown in Fig. 6 andwhich is also shown and described in said before-mentioned Letroo tersPatent, said mechanism consisting of the balance-wheel J, the lever K,the pallet L, the escapement-wheel M, having on its shaft the pinion N,the gear-wheel P, meshing with the said pinion, the pinion Q, meshingwith the said gear-wheel P, the gear-wheel R, meshing with said pinionQ, and the sprocket-wheel and the ratchet-wheel T on the shaft of saidgear-wheel R. The ratchet T is connected with its shaft T, so as torotate therewith; but the sprocket wheel is loosely mounted on saidshaft and carries a gravity or spring-pressed pawl or pawls U, whichengages the teeth of said ratchetwheel, thereby permitting the freemovement of the sprocket-wheel on the shaft in one direction and itsmovement with the shaft in the opposite direction.

As the operation of both the raising and time-lowering mechanism isfully described in said Letters Patent and as said parts are not claimedper se, further description of the same is thought unnecessary in thisapplication.

On the sides of the post is a scale showing minutes.

It will be seen that a train as it passes a station raises the index,signal-arm, and colored glass. As it leaves said station the indexbegins to lower and the engineer on the next train is able to notice bymeans of the figures on said post, the time the train ahead is inadvance. If the first train has reached the second or succeeding post,which is preferably placed at the two-mile limit, after the last car haspassed over the blade that works the signal-tripping lever, so as tocomplete the circuit at M in that post, and thereby cause the magnet Nof the first post to operate the catch G of said post, and release thesame from the signal-arm of that post, whereby the latter, as has beenstated before, is permitted to fall, and with it the colored glass J.

When but a single line of track is used, the modification shown in Fig.3 is employed. In this case two sets of posts,one on each side of thetrack, are used. Trains going in either direction will operate the indexand the signal arm; but the latter would be dropped only by those goingone way. For this purpose the followingdescribed mechanism is employed:In the box P, placed adjacent the rail, is mounted a lever Q, having thesprings R bearing against it, so as to normally maintain the positionshown in full lines in Fig. 4. The electric circuit has a wire from thebattery in the post to a contact-point S in said box, and from anothercontact-point T in said box a wire extends to the ground. When the leverQ, which is operated by any suitable projection on the car, is moved inone direction, it closes said contact-points S and T, thereby completingthe circuit. A train going in the opposite direction will not operatethe lever Q, and therefore the contact or circuit will not be closeduntil a train passes the station in the direction of the first one. Itwill be seen that by this attachment the engineer of a train can beinformed not only of the time a former train is in advance, but whetherthe same has passed the two-mile limit, so that there would be no dangerof a fast train running into between stations at slow one on the sametrack, which feature is of the highest importance in signaling.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have devised a novel and mostefficient form of railway-signal, and while the structural embodiment ofthe invention as herein disclosed is what I at the present time considerthe preferable one itis evident that the same is subject to changes,variations, and modifications without departing from the spirit of theinvention or sacrificing any of its advantages, and I therefore do notintend to restrict myself to the details herein disclosed, but reservethe right to make such changes, variations, and modifications as comeproperly within the scope of the protection prayed.

What is claimed as new is- 1. In a railway-signal, a post, a time-indexnormally extending from said post, and connected with mechanism operatedbya passing train so as to be raised, a pivoted signal-arm raised bycontact with an arm on said index, and a latch engaging directly withthe heel of said signal-arm keeping the same in elevated position, saidparts being combined substantially as described.

2. In a railway-signal, a post, an index-arm normally projecting fromsaid post, mechanism for rapidly raising said index, a pivotedsignal-arm normally housed in said post and raised by contact with saidindex, a latch engaging directly with the heel of said signalarm,arefiector on said post, an arm connected with said signal-arm carryinga plate adapted to cover said reflector, and a time retarding mechanismfor controlling the fall of said index, said parts being combinedsubstantially as described.

3. In a railway-signal, a post, an index normally projecting from saidpost, mechanism connected with said index for rapidly raising the same,a time-retarding mechanism for controlling the fall of said index, aseparate pivoted signal-arm adapted to be raised by contact with an armon said index, a latch engaging directly with the heel of saidsignal-arm for keeping the same in elevated position, an electriccircuit having a magnet in said post adapted to release said latch,contact-points in said circuit and means substantiallyas described forconnecting said contact-points so as to complete said circuit, saidparts being combined substantially as described.

4. In a railway-signal, two posts each having an index, mechanism forrapidly raising each of said indexes, and time retarding mechanism forcontrolling the fall of each of said indexes, a pivoted signal-arm inone of said posts, a latch adapted to engage directly with the heel ofsaid signal-arm, keeping it in elevated position, an electric circuithaving a magnet in one of said posts adapted to remove said latch fromengagement with said signal-arm, and contact-points in the other postadapted to be closed by the raising of the index therein, said partsbeing combined substantially as described.

5. In a railway-signal, a series of posts, each having an index, andprovided with mechanism for rapidly raising the index and a timeretarding mechanism for controlling the lowering thereof, a pivotedsignal-arm raised by contact with said index, and electric circuitsconnected with each two adjacent posts, each circuit having a magnet torelease a latch in said post engaging directly with the heel of thesignal-arm and holding said signal-arm, and contact-points adapted to beclosed by the operation of the index in another post,

said parts being combined substantially as described.

6. In railway-signals, a post, an index-arm normally projectingtherefrom, mechanism for rapidly raising said index and time-retardingmechanism for lowering the same, a pivoted signal-arm raised by contactwith said index, a latch engaging directly with the heel of thesignal-arm and holding said signa1-arm in elevated position, an electriccircuit with a magnet adapted to release said latch, and contact-pointsto be connected by an arm operated by the raising of said index, saidparts being combined substantially as described.

7. In a railway-signal, a time-index, mechanism for raising the same, aseparate signalarm adapted to be raised by contact with said index, alatch engaging directly with the heel of the signal-arm for holding saidarm in elevated position, and an electric circuit with a magnet havingan armature adapted to release said latch; said parts being combinedsubstantially as described.

JOHN ALEXANDER GUINN.

Witnesses:

J. GARELLEN, THOMAS A. FLOOD.

